Chasing Fire
by TwinkleHeart
Summary: AU where Kate goes to law school. They were chasing fire, and people who chased fire were bound to get burned. The thing was, he had already been burned by this woman; her kiss was permanently seared into his brain and he knew he would spend a lifetime chasing after her to get that feeling back again.
1. Chapter 1

Kate Beckett's world stopped turning on January 9, 1999. That was the day that her mother, Johanna Beckett, was brutally stabbed in an alley and left for dead. Her death was classified as "random gang violence", her murderer never found. The investigation for Johanna's killer seemed to end before it began.

Kate never got the closure she needed and her heart ached for the justice that was never found. Her father, Jim, found closure at the bottom of a bottle of scotch. He accepted that the killer would never be found and he drowned himself in that acceptance. Kate, however, never accepted it. She vowed to find a way to solve her mother's murder and it was a promise to herself that she intended to keep.

Kate never went back to Stanford. She couldn't leave the city that held the key to her mother's murder so she transferred to NYU in the fall of 1999 and continued on her path as a pre-law student getting her bachelor's degree in political science. She moved back home to be with her father, but he didn't seem to notice or care that she was even there. He stopped asking her about school. He stopped asking about her day. He pretty much just stopped asking.

Kate threw herself into her studies and she graduated with a 4.0. That, combined with the 172 she got on her LSATs, earned her a place in the class of 2004 at the NYU School of Law. She moved out of her childhood home, the apartment she shared with her rarely sober father, and moved into the law school dorm.

D'Agostino Hall was located at 110 West 3rd Street, just behind the law school, which sat on the corner of Washington Square South and MacDougal. The dorm consisted of small apartments where each student had their own room, but they shared a kitchen and bathroom with one or two other students. Kate shared her kitchen and bathroom with Morgan, a snobby bohemian hippie from Berkeley, California.

Morgan had curly red hair that always looked like it needed to be combed and she had absolutely no sense of humor. Kate didn't know Morgan very well, but she sensed that they were not going to be close friends. The first week, Kate and Morgan explored the neighborhood together a few times, but for the most part they did not hang out. The first year law students were assigned to one of four sections and for the entire first year, all classes would be taken together as a section. Kate was very thankful that Morgan was not in her section.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 Kate did not have class until 10am. At 8:46am she was sitting on the narrow twin bed in her room on the 8th floor of D'Agostino, the NYU dorm for first year law students, sipping a cup of coffee and watching MSNBC on her thirteen inch television.

She was going through her notes from Monday's contracts class when an image of the World Trade Center popped up on the screen. She was only half paying attention so she didn't notice the breaking story until just after 9am. Kate was frozen in place on her bed when she heard the sound of a plane flying overhead, a sound she probably heard when the first plane hit but she wasn't paying attention. The apartment she lived in faced north, which meant she had a beautiful view of the Empire State Building, but she could see nothing downtown, where the Twin Towers were.

Kate ran out the door, leaving her backpack and law books behind, and ran up the stairs four flights to get to the twelfth floor where she could access the outside patio that faced south. She pushed open the doors and stopped dead in her tracks. The World Trade Center looked like two giant chimneys pouring smoke in the air.

So much fire, she thought, so many people in trouble. It was an image that would be seared into her brain for eternity. She would look back on this moment and remember everything she experienced on this day, in the way that only someone who was physically there really could.

After standing there, mesmerized, for about ten minutes, Kate felt like she had to do something. Help those people. So she took the elevator down to the street and she began to walk south on Thompson Street toward the burning towers.

* * *

Richard Castle felt like a million dollars. He was at the top of the New York Times Bestsellers list with his latest novel, Unholy Storm, and his social calendar was filling up so fast he could hardly remember where he was supposed to be most days. On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, he didn't have to be anywhere until the afternoon.

After walking his 7 year-old daughter, Alexis, to school he began his walk back home to his SoHo loft. He stopped at Dean & Deluca on the corner of Broadway and Prince to grab a coffee and do some people watching. Just as he sat down with his coffee he heard a loud noise overhead that he recognized as the sound of a commercial jet. He looked up in the sky and thought to himself, "Wow, that plane is flying kind of low."

He settled back in his seat to sip his coffee and take in the busy New York City scene bustling around him. About 15 minutes after he saw the first plane fly by, another plane showed up flying just as low as the first one. This time it seemed he wasn't the only one to notice. Around him, people were gathering in small groups and pointing up in the sky

Intrigued, Rick stood and approached one of the groups of people to ask them if they knew what was going on. A few people said they heard something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. So he dumped his empty coffee cup in the garbage and started walking south on Broadway. When he hit Canal Street he made a right. When he hit Church Street he made a left. It was about 9:30am.

* * *

Kate wasn't sure why she was walking downtown. She just felt this overwhelming need to find out what was going on. On her way she passed people talking about it and she had gathered that two commercial jets had flown straight into the World Trade Center towers, presumably hijacked by terrorists. So why was she walking towards it when most people were running away?

When Kate reached Canal Street she turned left, walked west to Church Street and made a right. It was around 9:30am.

He saw her first.

**AN: This isn't a 9/11 fic. I promise. I just couldn't write about that time period without mentioning it so I decided to use 9/11 to set the story. They say "write what you know" so I'm taking Kate to law school. I went to law school at NYU, I lived on the 8th floor of D'agostino, and I had a roommate like Morgan. I have an idea where the story is going, but it's kind of writing itself so my plan is malleable. **


	2. Chapter 2

_He saw her first. _

Rick was walking down the west side of Church Street and he saw Kate walking down the east side of the same street. From across the street his eyes locked onto Kate's tall, thin figure as she walked slowly but purposely. It was as if she knew where she was going but she wasn't in a hurry to get there. He wondered why she was walking downtown. At this point nearly everyone knew that two planes had crashed into the Twin Towers. Not many people were walking south. Some were running in that direction, presumably people who had loved ones in or near the towers, but most people were walking in the opposite direction.

This woman, girl, no – woman, he finally decided – albeit a very young woman – was not rushing to her destination. This meant that she was probably headed south for the same reason that he was, which was pure curiosity. Or perhaps she worked down there. Maybe she lived down there and she was returning home after a night spent at her boyfriend's house. A woman this beautiful had to have a boyfriend.

He stayed on his side of the street and he followed her. Rick tried to get a good look at her face, but the soft brown waves of her hair hid most of it from him. His writer's imagination was running wild with theories. She was a model heading off to a photo shoot… an aspiring journalist off to find the story of a lifetime… a tourist from out of town who didn't speak any English and in fact had no idea what was going on because she was staying in a youth hostel that didn't have a television. As they got closer and closer to the burning towers that last theory didn't make much sense. They could see the smoke from the towers and there were police cars and fire trucks flying by at an alarming rate. At one point the mysterious brunette pushed the fallen strands of hair covering her face behind her left ear and turned to look in his direction. Within seconds her gaze landed on his face and their eyes locked.

Wow.

His breath caught in his throat. She was breathtakingly beautiful. He felt his heart beat deeply in his chest and all at once he saw his life flash before his eyes. His life with HER – first date, more dates, long walks, trips together with Alexis, a wedding on the beach, a couple more kids, growing old together… Rick closed his eyes to the images and shook his head to clear his mind. The feeling was so intense, it was almost like déjà vu. He felt like he had lived an entire life with this woman he didn't even know, and that scared the shit out of him.

Rick had been with more than his fair share of beautiful women and none of them had ever had this affect on him. When he opened his eyes again she was no longer looking at him. He mentally slapped himself for breaking eye contact with her as he tried to catch his breath. The writer started walking again and quickened his pace to catch up so that he didn't fall too far behind her. He had no idea how he was going to approach her, but he knew with certainty that he needed to talk to her.

* * *

Kate was about two blocks south of Canal when she realized that she was being watched. All around her people were either standing still staring up at the sky or crowded around televisions and radios in stores that she passed. Some people were walking quickly, running even, but nobody was walking south at a leisurely pace like she was… except for one man. When Kate looked both ways to cross the street she noticed a well-dressed man with brown hair staring directly at her. She didn't want to make eye contact so she kept her face turned away from him. Instead she let her hair fall over the side of her face so that she could observe him without him realizing that she was watching him too.

The light was red but the streets were clear. Kate obeyed the traffic signal so that she could get a better look at this man who appeared to be following her. He looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out how she knew him. Maybe he was also a first year law student at NYU and she recognized him from one of the many social events that she attended those first couple of weeks. It seemed that she was at a different party every night that first week, and she met more people than she could remember. He wasn't in her section, that much she was certain of, but it was possible he was in one of the other three sections. Perhaps he recognized her and was trying to figure out the same thing. He was older than her, but not much older. He was actually quite good looking. And oh, wow, he was staring right at her. Kate glanced at the traffic signal just as it turned green so she crossed the street and continued on her way. Whoever the mysterious man was, for some reason she didn't feel like he meant her any harm.

After a few more blocks she came to two conclusions. First, although familiar looking, she decided that she did not know this man and she had not ever met him before. He seemed like someone she would have remembered if she did. Second, he was definitely following her. He stopped when she stopped and he matched her pace almost exactly. And most notably of all, he wasn't looking up to the sky like everyone else. No, he was most definitely looking directly at her.

In a bold move, Kate tucked the hair that covered the left side of her face behind her ear and she turned. Her eyes found the eyes of the man who had been watching her and she gasped. She felt her heart skip a beat and she took a step back to catch her balance. Somehow she felt like she might fall over even though she was standing completely still. Suddenly there was one more thing she was certain of. She had to meet this man. He was someone that would be important to her, or someone that was already important to her. There was that same sense of familiarity that she just couldn't shake. She was staring deep into his soul and he looked just as affected as she was. Kate stared into his eyes until he closed them and began to shake his head. She took that moment to turn away and resume her walk downtown. The feeling was just too intense and she needed to clear her head.

At some point during her walk Kate realized that she should probably turn around and walk back to her apartment. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good, and it probably wasn't very safe either. Since losing her mom nearly two years ago, Kate didn't put a whole lot of thought into being "safe". She found herself doing things that she never would have done before – like buying that Harley Softail last year. Her mother never would have allowed her to ride on a motorcycle, let alone buy one. But her mother wasn't around to stop her and her father was in no position to tell her what to do. She wore a helmet and she didn't drive recklessly, but it was still a risk that she wouldn't have taken... _before_.

Kate's pace quickened for a moment when she thought about her father. She clenched her fists and fought the urge to scream out loud in frustration. When she moved out of her father's home, the apartment that she grew up in, she had finally walked away from the responsibility of looking after her father. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate on her law school studies if she was constantly worrying about her father and looking after him. It was time for tough love and he was going to have to figure out how to help himself. She constantly had to remind herself that it was not her responsibility. Her mother would be turning over in her grave if she knew what her father was putting her though with his alcoholism. She took a deep breath, unclenched her fists, and continued to walk, replacing thoughts of her father with thoughts of the burning towers. Something was going on, and she was going to find out.

* * *

Richard Castle's imagination was running through theory after theory surrounding two mysteries; one being the mysterious brunette and the other being the burning towers. He caught pieces of conversations as he walked by and a few of them mentioned a possible terrorist attack. He called Alexis' school to see if he needed to turn around and pick her up. The secretary who answered told him that all the children were safe and they were far enough from towers that they didn't see any reason to send the children home. Of course that would all change in less than fifteen minutes, but at that point the only people who sensed the full danger of what was happening were the people trapped in the towers above the gaping, burning holes. In the end, Rick's quest for adventure won out over whatever rational thoughts he might have had about turning around and walking away from the towers.

Eventually the young brunette stopped at a Starbucks only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. The streets were filled with policemen and fire fighters and really there wasn't much closer they could get. She was looking up to the top of the north tower with a look of pure horror on her face. Rick looked up and saw what she was looking at. People were jumping. They were actually jumping.

Rick crossed the narrow street and stood just a few feet behind Kate. It was 9:58am. He was thinking about what he could say to her when it happened. The south tower started to collapse. At least that's what it looked like. It started from the top, a huge cloud of smoke that grew larger… and oh, the sound! The sound was like nothing he had ever heard before.

Then the screaming started. People began to run. It reminded him of those scenes in the Godzilla B movies when the people noticed the monster coming at them from down the street. They pointed, screamed in horror, and ran for their lives.

Rick and Kate stood still; Kate staring at the collapsing tower and Rick staring at Kate. It felt like hours, but mere seconds passed before Rick took action. He reached out and grabbed her elbow. When she turned to look him in the eyes, the world stood still for just that moment. A split second in time that neither one would forget.

He shook her arm. She didn't move. He reached lower and grabbed her left hand with his right hand and held tight. He put his left hand over their two hands and pulled her close.

"Stay with me," he said close to her ear, so close that she felt the brush of his lips on the side of her face. Her whole body shivered as she answered him with a nod.

And they ran.

**AN: This is the first story that I've posted here and I'm still trying to figure out how this site works. I don't really have the patience to read all the directions and that's kind of biting me in the ass ;) Please try to stick with me. Thanks for reading! One more chapter of this 9/11 background before I move on to the meat of the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Smoke filled the air, except that it wasn't smoke. The giant cloud of debris from the fallen tower chased them up Church Street as they ran for their lives. Kate held tightly onto the stranger's hand and stayed close to him. They ran fast, but they didn't run fast enough. The smoky cloud of debris descended upon them in a matter of seconds and they were quickly losing visibility.

Somehow, through the thick gray haze, they found an open door. The door was slowly closing and was probably left ajar by the last person who ran inside; someone who was too busy running to safety to think of shutting the door behind them. Rick grabbed it just before it shut and pulled Kate through the entry. He closed the door behind them and looked around to see where exactly they were. It looked like the ground floor of a very narrow apartment complex. There wasn't anyone else there so Rick gathered that the last person through the doors before them had gone up the stairs, presumably to an apartment because there was certainly no sign of them now. Dust and debris had preceded them into the small, dark, enclosed space and it was hard to make out the borders of the room.

Rick felt his way along the edge of the wall until he hit a bench that ran the length of the wall under a set of mailboxes. He went to sit down and he pulled Kate after him. Their hands were still linked rather tightly and neither one seemed to want to let go. They were both breathing hard from their hundred-yard dash down Church Street. Neither one spoke as they struggled to catch their breath and digest their surroundings. Rick let go of Kate's hand so that he could put his arm around her. He pulled her tightly to his side and buried his face in her hair. Outside it was so dark that it looked like it was ten o'clock at night instead of ten o'clock in the morning.

Kate felt all the tension leave her body as she relaxed into Rick's side. He felt familiar in a way that no man had ever felt before. Her heartbeat quickened at this realization and she wondered if he could feel her reaction to his embrace. She allowed her body to let go and take comfort in the support that he was offering her. They were both content to sit like this and absorb the eerily quiet moment in silence. Kate pulled the front of her shirt up to cover he mouth and her nose because the air was thick with dust. Rick took his jacket off to expose the non-dusty shirt underneath so that Kate had a relatively clean place to rest her head upon. He then wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. Kate wasn't cold, but she appreciated the gesture and smiled into the side of Rick's chest as she closed her eyes.

They sat this way for what felt like forever but was probably about half an hour. Rick had tried several times, unsuccessfully, to call Alexis' school. His cell phone was not working well and the calls were getting dropped before they could be completed. He told himself not to worry. He knew that she was safe in school and that the school was far enough away from the World Trade Center that she was not in any danger. A few "what ifs" crossed his mind – like what if the entire city was under attack and something closer to her school was bombed – but he quickly dismissed these thoughts. There was nothing he could do right then and it was pointless to worry about something that he had no control over. Alexis was safe, he had to have faith. As soon as the cloud of debris cleared and it was safe to leave, he would go straight to her. But in the meantime, there was someone else to take care of. The mysterious woman glued to his side was also someone that he wanted to protect, keep safe, hold tight to.

Kate's eyes had been closed, but she could tell that Rick was desperately trying to make a phone call. He never actually spoke into the phone so she assumed it was the same call being made over and over again, a call that never went through. She wondered if there was a wife or a girlfriend that he was worried about. But then she knew there wasn't. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew. There was no one like that, but there was someone very important that he needed to reach. When she finally opened her eyes he was trying again to make the call. She pulled away from him only far enough so that she could look into his deep blue eyes.

"My daughter," he said, as if he could read her mind, hearing the question that she was asking with her eyes.

"Do you need to call anyone?" he asked, offering her his phone even though it clearly wasn't working. Kate shook her head and looked away from his intoxicating eyes. It was as if he could see directly into her soul and she did not want him to see how entirely alone she was in this world. She didn't look away fast enough.

"You're not alone," he said as he reached up to softly stroke the side of her face. And Kate began to cry.

Her shoulders shook gently and a tear from each eye slid slowly down her cheeks. Her arms crept around his waist as Rick wiped the fallen tears away.

"What is happening out there?" Kate finally spoke. Rick shook his head. It was still dark beyond the glass door. So very dark.

"I don't know, but it's bad."

"Really bad." Kate agreed. "Your daughter?"

"She's seven and her school is in the village. I know they will keep her safe, I just hope she's not scared." Rick looked into Kate's eyes and this time it was her who could see deep into his soul. He was worried, not just about his daughter's safety, but worried because he knew that she would be worried about his safety as well. There was something else she saw in his eyes. Aside from his daughter, he was also very alone in this world. She knew that whoever this girl's mother was, she was not in the picture.

"Well then, let's get you back to her." Kate stood up, Rick's jacket still around her shoulders, and reached out to take his hand. He took her hand and let her pull him up next to her. He was a little off balance as he stood, which caused him to bump into her chest in a motion that should have been awkward but it wasn't. He started to open his mouth to apologize when he noticed how very close his face was to hers. She noticed too. As his mouth opened to speak his lips changed course and suddenly he was kissing her.

Kate's hand reached up to touch Rick's face as he kissed her; a wonderful, tender kiss that made her feel like she was being kissed for the first time. Her other hand reached behind his head and her fingers ran though his soft brown hair. Rick's hands moved to Kate's waist and slipped underneath his jacket as her lips gently explored his. He pulled back ever so slowly and touched his forehead to hers. She was still running her fingers through his hair and he was gently caressing the small of her back with all eight fingers as his thumbs held her firmly in place. They could both feel the other's warm breath on their faces as they struggled, once again, to catch their breath for an entirely different reason.

Kate was not the kind of girl who went around kissing strangers. Sure there was a night or two in college where she ended up drinking a little too much at a club and might have made out with a random guy on the dance floor. But those were drunken mistakes that she didn't put much thought into the next day when she nursed her hangover. This time she was not drunk, and this was no mistake. It felt… right. In a city that hadn't felt like home to her since her mother died, she suddenly felt like she was home. She was exactly where she was supposed to be. Amongst the wreckage of the city, amongst the wreckage of her heart, she had found something to hold on to. She had found a lifeline.

"Don't let go, OK?" Rick led Kate back to the glass door and held tightly to her hand once more.

She shook her head, "I won't let go."

They both grabbed the tops of their shirts and pulled them up over their noses and mouths as they left the safety of the apartment lobby and reentered the streets of lower Manhattan. It was no longer completely dark outside, but it was still very difficult to see where they were, and more importantly – where they were going. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crowd of people came running towards them. Because it was so hard to see, these people did not see Rick and Kate standing on the sidewalk. And because it was so hard to see, Rick and Kate did not see them coming until it was too late. Several bodies crashed into them and ripped their hands apart. Kate was swept up in the crowd and was forced to run along with them. She frantically reached out her hand in search of Rick, but it was too late.

He was gone.

Rick was knocked down to the ground by the crowd that carried Kate away. He wanted to call out to her but he didn't know her name. Then he silently cursed himself for not getting her name and phone number before heading outside. He clumsily made his way down the street looking for her, but it was too late.

She was gone.

* * *

**AN: **Thank you so much for your kind reviews and story alerts! I was hoping to get this update out sooner, but Hurricane Sandy had other plans. We live in New Jersey, just across the bridge from Manhattan, and our area has been hit hard. We are safe and very thankful to have gotten our power back on Wednesday evening as I have three kids and the youngest is only three months old. Many of our friends and neighbors are still without power and I worry about them as the temperature drops. We have two families staying with us who are still without power in their homes.


	4. Chapter 4

Kate had some wonderful dreams that night. Considering how many people had lost their lives when the towers fell, she felt a bit guilty for that. It was odd how it took another death laden tragedy to turn her nightmares into dreams. She had slept soundly for the first time since her mother's murder.

In her most memorable dream she was stranded on an island in an unknown location and the man she had met the day before was there with her. They were scrounging for food and struggling to build a shelter, but they had each other and she was happy and comforted by the fact that he was there. Their tragic circumstances seemed irrelevant. They had made love in their seaside hut and she had awoken immediately following the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced. She blushed, alone in her room, and smiled into her pillow.

Kate had gotten back to her apartment without too much trouble the day before. After being forced away from Rick in the gray haze of fallen tower debris, she had given up on finding him and just walked home. She took a shower, threw her dust ridden clothes into the wash and then spent the rest of the day in her sweats watching the news on the small television in her room. Everything below 14th street was closed off, quarantined almost. Nobody was allowed in and nobody who lived there had any reason to leave their home. The air outside smelled like a giant campfire and the streets were eerily empty. No stores or restaurants were open and classes were canceled until further notice.

Jim Beckett was sober enough the day before to realize what had happened and he had called his daughter around noon to make sure she was OK. The conversation was brief, but it left both father and daughter with a sense of reassuring relief that no more tragedy would befall what was left of their small family. At least not on that day. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, Kate picked up the new book that she had been dying to read but hadn't had the time because of all the homework she had to do as a first year law student. She ran her fingers over the title of the crisp new book that she had bought on the day it came out, two weeks ago. She settled back on her bed, propped up by pillows, and began to read _Unholy Storm_, Richard Castle's sixth book in the Derrick Storm series. Although she'd been a die hard fan of Castle's work since discovering some of his books on her mother's book shelves after her death, she had never paid much attention to the bio on the back of each of his books… the one with his picture. Underneath her right hand laid the answer to the mystery of the man who had the power to turn her nightmares into dreams.

* * *

Richard Castle was devastated when Kate literally slipped through his fingers. He wished he had some clue as to who she was, a name, a number, anything really. His attention soon drifted back to his daughter and he walked quickly towards her school to take her home. She had been slightly shaken by the day's events, but she was safe, and the two of them spent the day watching movies and eating ice-cream to get their minds off of the terrible tragedy that had befallen the city.

Like Kate, Alexis was home from school for an undetermined amount of time. Also, like Kate, they lived below 14th Street in what could only be described as a ghost town. The city that never slept was in a coma and Rick spent most of his time doing what he did best, writing. His publisher was already pressuring him to get moving on the next Derrick Storm novel in the wake of the extreme popularity of _Unholy Storm_. He was at his peak of popularity and he wanted to ride the wave as long as possible. The best way to do that was to keep his books coming out at a regular pace. Any book signings he had were canceled so he had plenty of time to devote to his writing in between movie marathons and video games with Alexis.

Rick kept a notebook of story ideas in a nondescript black leather book in his office. On the evening of 9/11 he had started a page for the young brunette that he couldn't get out of his mind. There was no name or title on the page, it was simply a list of clues that might help him figure out who she was. Nothing on his list gave him much of a lead beyond his speculation that she was a college student, perhaps NYU since that seemed to be the direction she was coming from. He also guessed that she was a native New Yorker just based on the way that she carried herself. There's a way that NYC residents navigate the streets that makes them easy to tell from the tourists. She definitely knew her way around and carried herself in a way that made him certain of this fact.

The problem was, even if she was a student at NYU, she would still be near impossible to find. He didn't even know if she was an undergrad or a graduate student. After a few weeks of being holed up inside, things started to slowly get better. School was back in session and Rick had some time to devote to looking for his mystery woman. He spent a lot of afternoons in Washington Square Park hoping to see her walk by. It was central to most NYU buildings so there was a chance he'd see her there. After a week of coming up empty he moved on to a more aggressive approach.

During his research for several of his books he had made close contacts with some members of the NYPD. He contacted one of them and was able to sit down with a sketch artist who drew a pretty good likeness of Kate. Rick took this picture around to every NYU dorm and asked the doormen if they had seen her. He had made up a story to explain why he was looking for her. He told them that he had met her on 9/11 and they were both running from the towers (true) when she dropped a piece of jewelry (not true). He had reached down to pick it up and when he looked for her she was gone. He simply wanted to find her so he could return to her what she had lost. Rick knew that the doormen might know who she is but not want to reveal it to a stranger so each time he left his first name and number and told them that if they knew who she was to please give the information to her and tell her he was the man she met on 9/11. He hoped that was enough.

When Rick walked into D'Agostino Hall, Kate's actual residence, the doormen he spoke to (there were three of them) told him they did not know who she was but took his name and number. One of them thought she looked familiar but didn't say anything. When he saw Kate later that week he had a sense of déjà vu that he just couldn't shake. Unfortunately, however, he had forgotten all about the man with the story about 9/11 and the lost jewelry. The paper with Rick's name and number had been tossed in the trash a couple hours after he had left.

Rick was pretty sure that Kate hadn't lost any jewelry that day, but he was also pretty sure that he had lost his heart that day. And he didn't want it back. The day he had met Kate he was following her in a dangerous direction. They were both walking towards two burning towers when all common sense should have led them in the opposite direction. They were chasing fire, and people who chased fire were bound to get burned. The thing was, he had already been burned by this woman; her kiss was permanently seared into his brain and he knew he would spend a lifetime chasing after her to get that feeling back again.

* * *

November 17th was Kate Beckett's birthday. It was also the day that Richard Castle was set to do his first _Unholy Storm_ book signing in Manhattan since the events of 9/11. Kate had decided to go to the book signing as a birthday present to herself. She was excited to meet the man behind the books that meant so much to her since her mother's death. She packed the book gently into her canvas NYU bag and headed over to the Barnes and Noble at the corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street. She was not prepared for what she saw when she got there.

There was a line that wrapped around the block that had to have at least four hundred people in it. Kate walked the length of the line and cursed herself for not getting there earlier. It was 10:30am and the book signing had started at 10am. Some of the people closer to the front of the line had been in line since 8am, or earlier.

_Wow_, she thought to herself, _I had no idea he was this popular!_

Kate stood outside the bookstore and debated whether or not she should stand in line. If she did, she most definitely would not make her 12pm lunch date with her father. He had called her last week to invite her and she had been impressed by the mere fact that he remembered her birthday. He sounded sober during the phone call and Kate was hopeful that he had turned a corner, maybe even got help. She desperately wanted her father back and she wanted to encourage whatever progress he might be making.

No, she decided, she would not cancel her lunch date with her father. She looked sadly at the oversized poster of _Unholy Storm_ and tried to peek in the window. She had no idea what Richard Castle looked like and she could barely see the table he was sitting at through the crowd of people. The table was close, but his face was hidden from view by a large cardboard cut-out of the book. Sadly she turned around and walked away. _Maybe next time_, she thought. Kate headed down 6th Avenue to the West 4th Street subway station so she could head uptown to meet her father. She would be early, but she could kill time by rereading the book that never got signed. Richard Castle did not disappoint her with his latest novel, it was amazing.

* * *

Richard Castle was amazed by how many people had come to his book signing. Tourism in New York City was pretty non-existent during these post 9/11 months and he was worried about the turnout. Apparently he had plenty of local fans, fans that had been cooped up in their homes and were anxious to get out and do something. The city was certainly lacking in things to do these days so a book signing by a current top author was a sought after event.

Paula, Rick's agent, urged him to be friendly but not too friendly. With a line this long, he couldn't engage in lengthy conversations with the fans. "Sign the book, make eye contact, smile, and answer any question they might throw at you with a short response followed by a 'thanks for coming' so they don't ask any more questions," she told him. Rick preferred to be friendlier, but looking at the line stretching around the block he knew that was just not going to be possible.

Half an hour flew by before he knew it and the line didn't look any shorter than when he started. In fact, it was probably longer as more people showed up. He was in the middle of another generic "thanks for coming" when by chance he turned towards the front window of the store. His breath and his words caught in his throat when he saw Kate peering in the window of the store. She was looking in his direction but it was clear that she couldn't see him. He stood up, wanting to run out there, stop her before she left, but Paula stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She said through clenched teeth as she reached out to stop him from moving by grabbing his arm.

"I need a break, can I take five?" The weight of Paula's hand on his arm pushed him back to a sitting position.

"You just started, Rick, you can't take a break now or you'll never finish." Rick looked back to the window only to see Kate turn around and walk away. He knew he would cause a scene if he ran after her so he fought the urge to run and hoped that she was going to get in line to see him. It was possible that she had been looking for him as much as he had been looking for her. Maybe she saw his picture somewhere and recognized him as the man she met two months earlier.

Three hours later Rick realized that his mystery woman was not standing in line to see him. He could see the end of the line, a mere twenty or so people left to go, and Kate was not one of those people. His hand was sore, his face hurt from smiling, and all he wanted to do was go home and curl up in a ball. He let her slip through his fingers once again and he cursed himself for listening to Paula and not running after her. He thought back to the image of Kate looking in the window and realized that he had one more clue as to who she was. The bag she was carrying had a very distinct purple image on it that he recognized as the torch in the NYU logo.

* * *

**AN: I wanted to get this out before I lose power (again). We're suppose to get another storm tomorrow and I'm dreading it. Thank you to all my readers! I love posting a new chapter and watching the view count rise. Reviews and story alerts/favorites make my day :)**

**The part where I describe the city post 9/11 smelling like a giant campfire is from my memory of that time. It's a smell that I will never forget. At the time I was living on the upper west side and I was working in Cooper Square, which was below 14th street in the area that was shut off immediately following 9/11. The city really did look like a ghost town. Time's Square looked downright creepy... so empty.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Kate was thrown back into her studies now that school was back in session. She had heard that the first year of law school was the hardest and so far that rumor had held true. In class, students were called upon at random and they were expected to have well thought out answers at the ready. Kate was terrified of being called on and not having an answer. She had nightmares about this much in the same way teenagers have nightmares about showing up to school in their underwear. The humiliation would be similar. To avoid this, Kate made sure she kept up on her homework assignments so that she was always prepared in class. Her homework was mostly reading and taking notes on the massive textbooks with the occasional writing assignment.

With the amount that she had to read for class, there was little time left for recreational reading. Richard Castle's _Unholy Storm_ was reluctantly placed back on her bookshelf next to the other Derrick Storm novels, unsigned but not unread. Even if classes hadn't been temporarily suspended due to the 9/11 attacks, Kate would have made time to read the book. Reading his books made her feel closer to her mother, and she needed to feel that now more than ever.

The holidays passed by quickly for Kate. Many of her friends at school flew home to spend time with their families. Morgan had also flown home for the holidays so Kate had the apartment all to herself. She spent most of the time alone, reading her law books and completing assignments. She had the occasional meal with her father, but they never spent more than an hour together. They really didn't have much to say to each other and seeing him always left Kate depressed. Also depressing were the streets of Manhattan that were usually bustling with tourists, especially during the holiday season. People were scared of coming to the city that had just been attacked. Time's Square was eerily empty and there were no crowds gathered around the elaborately decorated department store windows.

Kate had some company other than her father during this time. She had become close with a girl in her law school section from New Jersey, Barbara, known to her friends as "Barbie". Barbie looked and acted nothing like her name implied. She was shorter than Kate, but not short by any means, and had long, light brown hair with bangs. Kate was thin, but Barbie was thinner, without the curves of the famous doll that shared her name. She was a newlywed, at the young age of 22, and lived in New Jersey with her husband and their three cats. Her commute was about 45 minutes by train.

Barbie was one of the few people that Kate had confided in about her mother. She knew that she had been murdered and she knew that January 9th was the anniversary of her death. On January 9, 2002, Barbie spent the entire day with Kate so that she didn't have to be alone. It was a Wednesday and they had three classes that were over by 4pm. They went back to Kate's apartment before dinner so they could drop off their heavy backpacks and warm up before heading out again. Barbie immediately spotted Kate's collection of Richard Castle's books on her bookshelf.

"Wow, you have so many Richard Castle books! I love the Derrick Storm novels," Barbie said as she ran her fingers along the spines.

"I confess, I'm a fan. Have you read any of his earlier novels?"

"Earlier novels? You mean he's written about something other than Derrick Storm?" Kate wasn't surprised; most people weren't familiar with Castle's earlier work.

"Here, you should definitely read this one." Kate pulled down _In a Hail of Bullets_ and handed it to Barbie. "I think he won some kind of literary award for this one. Anyhow, it's really good, you'll love it."

As Barbie took the book and looked at the cover Kate did a double take as she looked at the picture on the back of the book. "Wait a second, I need to see that," she said as she grabbed the book back so she could take a closer look at the back of the book. Kate's eyes nearly pooped out of her head as the realization sunk in.

"What is it, Kate?" Kate could not speak. "Hello? Earth to Kate." Barbie waved a hand back and forth in front of Kate's unmoving stare.

"Holy shit." It was all Kate could say.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Kate blinked the shell-shocked look off her face and gave the book back to Barbie. She pointed to the picture on the back and said, "I just realized something that you are not going to believe."

The whole story came pouring out and she had Barbie's complete attention. She left no details out as she relived that morning. When she was finished it was Barbie who looked shell-shocked. "And you're sure that was Richard Castle?"

"Barbie, I'm positive. I can't believe I didn't figure this out until now, but looking at this picture of him it all makes sense."

"Makes sense?"

"He seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place it. I thought maybe he went to school with us or I'd met him briefly at some random party. I must have looked at one of these pictures before on one of his books and that's why he seemed familiar." The two girls sat in stunned silence for a few minutes.

"Kate, you have to find him."

"He's rich and famous, Barbie. I'm nobody." Kate shook her head and looked down. For four months she had wanted nothing more than to find this man, but now she was unsure. Knowing who he was should have made her ecstatic, but instead she found herself doubting what she felt that day. What if it were all in her head? What if it was just one of those "dire circumstances" adrenaline fueled things that made sense at the time but seemed less important in retrospect. Somewhere during the battle she was fighting in her head she remembered the book signing that she never made it to and her eyes popped wide open again.

"What else did you just realize?" Barbie picked up on it immediately.

"I almost met him, Barbie." She looked confused. "I mean I almost met him, again. I tried to go to his book signing on my birthday."

"You didn't!"

"No, I didn't, when I got there the line was too long and I didn't have the time to wait. I had lunch plans with my father."

"Can you imagine if you had stayed and waited in that line?"

"I would have figured it out in line. Oh my G-d, Barbie, I would have died!"

"And gone to heaven!" The two girls laughed for a solid five minutes imagining how that would have played out. Before they knew it, it was time to head out again for their dinner reservation at one of Kate's favorite restaurants. After all, it was still "Keep-Kate-busy-so-she-doesn't-think-about-her-mom Day". Their conversation at dinner revolved around figuring out what to do with the information that Kate's mystery man was none other than famous mystery writer Richard Castle. By the time dessert came, they had a plan.

* * *

Richard Castle had no time to recover from the shock of almost meeting his 9/11 mystery woman again. His book signing tour was in full force and he was especially busy around the holidays. Alexis was out of school for two weeks so she was able to travel with him around the country. The book signings in California were strategically planned so the they would be in Los Angeles on Christmas. It was the only way to ensure that Alexis would be able to spend some time with her unreliably flakey mother. Rick found himself wondering what Kate was doing on Christmas. He didn't want her to be alone, but he selfishly hoped that she wasn't spending it with a significant other.

Rick was back in Manhattan after New Year's and his social obligations subsided enough that he had time to refocus some of his energy on finding Kate. After spotting her with the NYU book bag he was fairly confident that she went to NYU. His next plan was to get a hold of all the 2001-2002 school year Picture Books. Each year NYU published Picture Books that featured pictures of all the new incoming students. His gut told him (or maybe it was wishful thinking) that she was a graduate student so he skipped over the undergraduate Picture Books and went straight to the graduate schools. He started with Stern Business School and when he was unsuccessful there he moved on to the School of Law. One Thursday morning in January he found himself sitting in the NYU law school library with the 2001-2002 law school Picture Book in his hands. When he turned to the section for first year J.D. students his breath caught in his throat. There she was.

Katherine Beckett.

There was no mistaking that she was the one he had been searching for. That hair, those eyes, it was her. He let out a triumphant scream of joy before he realized that he was sitting in the law library and probably shouldn't be shouting. With that realization came the knowledge that she was a law student, which meant she could be in the same building right at that very minute. He needed a plan. There was no way that he was letting her slip through his fingers now that he knew exactly who she was. He briefly considered simply sitting on a bench in the courtyard of Vanderbilt Hall, the building that housed the library and most first year law classes, and wait for her to either enter or exit the building. However, he could be waiting for a very long time and what if he picked a day that she didn't even have classes. No, he needed to find out her schedule; figure out which classes she was in and when… and then… and then what? Just walk into her class and say "Hey there, remember me?" He wanted to see her again, but he didn't want to look like some kind of weird stalker.

Rick put the Picture Book on the appropriate shelf in the library, but not before he photocopied the page with Kate's picture. As he was making the photocopy he noticed a few girls at a nearby table pointing at him and whispering. He was getting recognized more and more these days and although flattering, he was not always in the mood to indulge the fans. He pulled out the baseball cap that he had stuffed in his pocket earlier and put it on as he left the library. He left with a smile on his face and the name "Katherine Beckett" running through his head on an endless loop. Now that he knew who she was, he was certain he would see her again. As he neared the front entrance of Vanderbilt he was so preoccupied in his thoughts that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He bumped right into the side of some girl with enough force that the cup of coffee she was holding flew right out of her hands… and right into his face.

* * *

Kate and Barbie were going over the details of their plan over coffee in the law school lounge the next morning between classes. They had gone back to Kate's apartment after dinner Wednesday night to Google Richard Castle. He had another book signing in Manhattan scheduled in early February, less than a month away, and this time Kate wasn't going to miss it. She was going to wait in line this time, but she would make sure she was the last person in line. This way they would have time to talk. It was going to be hard waiting nearly a month to see him now that she knew who he was, but she couldn't figure out any other way to see him that didn't involve her stalking him like some deranged fan.

Kate had her lawyering class at 11am in Poe House, a dilapidated old building on 85 west 3rd street that was once home to Edgar Allen Poe, so the two girls headed down to go their separate ways. Lawyering was the only class that first year students didn't take as a section. They were small classes of about ten students each where they learned about legal writing in a more intimate setting. Kate was standing near the entrance of Vanderbilt saying good-bye to Barbie when someone bumped into her side with enough force to make her paper cup of coffee fly right out of her hands… and right into the careless man's face.

* * *

**AN: **Barbie was my best friend in law school, we lost touch over the years and I miss her because she's awesome and she made my first year at NYU law school so much more fun. Poe House is real, or was real, I just Googled it and found out that NYU tore it down in 2001. That means it would have been difficult for Kate to have her classes there in 2002, but it's fiction and I feel like keeping it in there. I used to complain about having classes there because there was no air conditioning and the building felt like it was going to collapse with every step you took. I graduated in 2000 so Kate is a few years younger than me.


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for the huge break in story updates. I got a new computer shortly after the last update an when I migrated all the data from the old iMac to the new MacBook Pro I discovered that my Word application was so outdated that it would not run on the new computer. It's taken me this long to get a new version of Word. Sorry about that!**

* * *

"I'm so sorry!" Rick called out to the stunned woman that he had just bumped into as he tried to wipe the warm liquid off his face.

"Oh my goodness, are you OK?" Kate was holding a napkin in her other hand and she reached out to give it to Rick. Sure, he had bumped into her, but she was fine and he had a face full of coffee. "Did I burn you?"

Rick graciously took the napkin from Kate and began wiping the coffee off his face. "No, no, it's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going. The coffee isn't hot, I'm fine." He licked his lips. "So you like vanilla in your coffee?" And that's when he looked up into the young woman's eyes. It took him about half a second to realize that he was staring at Katherine Beckett, his 9/11 mystery woman. Suddenly he had no idea what to say.

Barbie reached out and squeezed Kate's arm as she turned to whisper loudly into Kate's ear. "Kate, I think that's - "

"Richard Castle." Kate finished Barbie's sentence looking straight into Rick's eyes.

"Katherine Beckett." Rick said back.

"How did you?" They both said at the same time before they both broke out into nervous laughter. Rick spoke first.

"I guess we were both looking for each other," he said smiling at her.

"I have your jacket!" Kate blurted out. She shook her head and looked down. Of all the things to say, and now he thinks she was just looking for him so she could give him his jacket back.

Barbie reached out and shook Rick's hand. "I'm Barbie, Kate's friend, and I have a class to get to but it was nice meeting you." Then she turned to Kate and mouthed the words "Call me" as she walked away before Rick even had a chance to tell her it was nice meeting her too. Kate turned back to Rick, still in shock that he was standing right in front of her.

"I have to go to my next class, will you walk with me?"

"Of course!" Rick gave Kate a dazzling smile that melted her heart and made her weak in the knees. For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other. They stood at the entrance to Vanderbilt Hall like statues, not moving as students pushed by them from all directions. "Is it in this building?"

"No, it's just a few blocks away." Kate moved to leave the building and Rick fell into step beside her. They walked in silence with smiles on their faces as they took turns stealing glances at each other and then looking away when they were caught. They had both dreamed of this moment, when they finally found each other, but it was so unexpected and neither one of them knew what to say. Rick spoke first.

"Were you looking for me because you wanted to return my jacket or were you looking for me because you couldn't get me out of your mind?" Kate opened her mouth to answer but was cut off when Rick continued to speak. "Because I haven't been able to get you out of my mind for the past four months, Katherine." When he said her name, chills ran through her body from the tips of her toes to each individual hair on her head.

"It's Kate. You can call me Kate." _Seriously? He says possibly the most romantic thing that any man has ever said to me and that's how I respond?_ Kate mentally chastized herself. "I've been thinking about you too, Richard." They were stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change.

"Just Rick." And there was that smile again. The crinkle in his eyes when he smiled was just so freaking adorable. Kate shifted her weight nervously from one leg to the other and bit her bottom lip, which Rick thought was so freaking adorable. The light changed and Rick reached out and took Kate's hand in his as he led them across the street. And suddenly they were standing in front of the Poe building and Kate was dangerously close to being late for class.

"This is where my class is," said Kate as she gestured toward the dilapidated building with her free hand.

"This place is a historical landmark!" Rick said as he realized where they were standing. "Edgar Allen Poe lived here. Only for about one year, but that was the year that _The Raven_ was published, in 1845. I'm a huge fan, I named myself after him. When I changed my last name to Castle I also changed my middle name to Edgar." Rick talked with the excitement of a five year old who had just been to Disneyland for the first time. Kate had already known about his name change. She had read about ten different bios after she figured out that Richard Castle was her 9/11 mystery man. "Can I walk you to your classroom? I'd love to go inside the building."

"Sure, but be careful, I don't fully trust the staircase. It feels like it could collapse at any second."

"I'll catch you if you fall." Kate felt like pinching herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Was this man for real? Every word out of his mouth was sweeping her off her feet. Rick followed Kate up the dilapidated staircase tossing our random Poe facts as they ascended to the second floor. Some of the other students gave them curious glances as they passed by into the classroom, probably because they were still holding hands.

"So, I still need to give you your jacket back."

"Yes, I really want to see _my jacket_ again." Kate smiled and looked down. "Can I see you again? Tonight? I have to pick my daughter up from school or I'd just wait for you to finish class. Is 7 OK? Do you have a cell phone?" Kate took her Nokia out of her bag and handed it to Castle. He dialed what was presumably his own number and then handed it back to her. "Now you have my number and I have yours. Is it a date?"

"Sure," Kate said as a smile spread across her face, "that would be nice. I live across the street, 110 west 3rd. I'll come downstairs at 7."

"It's a date." Rick was already holding Kate's hand so he gently pulled her close to him and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. "A date that I've been waiting for for four months. Until tonight, Katherine." Rick turned and walked away from a speechless Kate who tried to hide the blush that was creeping up her face from her neck by turning away and walking into her classroom. Lucia, one of her friends from class, had seen Rick kiss her on the cheek and asked her immediately what was going on.

"Wow, Kate, where have you been hiding him? He is HOT!" Lucia demanded.

"Don't get too excited, Lucia, we haven't even gone on a date yet." Kate was grateful that class was about to start because Lucia had about 99 questions for her about Rick and she didn't really feel like answering them. Just as her lawyering instructor began to hand back last week's assignment she felt her phone vibrate. She looked down at her phone and saw a text from Rick.

_I'm looking forward to tonight._

Kate grinned and texted him back.

_Me too._

* * *

Four hours later, Kate was standing in her tiny bedroom in front of her tiny closet trying to figure out what she was going to wear. She had no idea where they were going and didn't know if she should dress up or keep it casual. It was pretty cold out and she didn't want to put on a dress so she chose a pair of dark colored jeans and paired them with a black fitted sweater and some high heeled boots. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and freshened up her make-up, giving more attention to her eyes than she had earlier in the day.

Kate had called Barbie the second her lawyering class had ended, dialing her cell as she exited the building. Barbie answered on the second ring.

"I guess you don't have to wait until February after all. What was he doing in Vanderbilt? How on earth did he figure out who you were?"

"I have no idea, actually, I didn't ask." That was a really good question, what had Richard Castle been doing at her law school? How on earth did he find her when he didn't even know her name?

"Kate, he's been looking for you! He said as much, remember?"

"You think?"

"It's the only reasonable explanation! And he knew your name, called you Katherine Beckett."

"You're right, I didn't even think of that. I guess I wasn't thinking much at all. Barbie, what am I doing? We hardly know each other. What if he thinks I'm only after him for his money? I said his name so he knows that I know who he is!" Kate found herself nervously pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.

"If everything happened the way you described it then there's no way he is thinking that. Are you only after his money?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Kate let out the breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

"I guess you're right. I'm just so nervous, what if we find out that we have nothing in common? What if we've both been obsessing over finding each other when all we really have is an overblown imaginary relationship based on one adrenaline filled moment? You know what they say, how people become closer during life threatening situations. What if that's all it was?" Kate lowered her voice as she entered her apartment building because she did not want the other students eavesdropping on her conversation.

"Then I guess you'll find out. Did he ask you out? Are you going on an official date?"

"He's taking me out tonight!"

"Oh Kate, I'm so happy for you! I can't wait to hear all about it. Now that I'm an old married woman I have to live vicariously through you. First dates are amazing. Just be yourself, he's going to love you." Kate would soon find out how true those words really were.

Kate smiled when she thought back to this conversation with Barbie earlier in the afternoon. She grabbed one of her nicer coats, a three quarter length fitted wool winter coat, and paired it with a cashmere Burberry scarf. With one last glance in her mirror, Kate was on her way. She glanced at her watch as she left her apartment and locked the door behind her. It was five minutes to seven and she couldn't wait to see Rick again. Richard Castle. She was going on a date with Richard Castle. Kate was standing in the elevator by herself and blushing from ear to ear. She took several deep breaths trying to calm her nerves because she didn't want to act like a lovestruck teenager when her date came to pick her up.

* * *

Rick had been smiling all afternoon. He nearly skipped down the street when he went to pick Alexis up at school. When she asked him why he was so happy he told her it was because he had missed her all day and he was so excited to see her. It wasn't exactly a lie, he always missed Alexis when he wasn't with her and he picking her up from school was always the highlight of his day. Finding Kate had been a bonus, a really big bonus, and he couldn't wait to see her again. He told Alexis that he was going out to dinner with a friend and called his mother to come watch her. Thankfully she was available, but he did have a list of several reliable babysitters just in case she wasn't.

Rick took a shower and spent about an hour trying to figure out what to wear while Alexis was doing her homework. She giggled and asked him why it was taking him so long to get dressed. In the end, she helped him pick out a nice maroon button down shirt to wear with the jeans he had already chosen. At 6:30 he gave Alexis a kiss goodnight and grabbed his winter coat. He had already told his mother about the girl that he met on 9/11 and Martha was more than delighted that he had found his mystery woman. She was all he had talked about for the last four months and despite her encouragements, Rick would not go on any other dates with any other women until he found her. Martha wanted to see her son happy and she hoped that this woman lived up to his expectations. She was a bit worried that he had built her up to be something that she wasn't and she didn't want him to be disappointed.

"Bye mother, don't let Alexis stay up too late."

"Don't worry, Richard, have fun tonight. I can stay the whole night if you need me to," Martha said with a mischievous grin and a wink. She gave her son a kiss on the cheek as he walked out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

On his way to get Kate, Rick stopped to get a bouquet of flowers. Nothing over the top, just a tasteful bouquet of gerber daisies from a bodega on the corner. In his excitement to see Kate again he was walking more quickly than usual and he found himself at Kate's building about ten minutes early.

Kate exited the elevator to find Richard Castle waiting for her in the lobby. With flowers. She couldn't even remember the last time a date came to pick her up and gave her flowers. In fact, she didn't think anyone had ever done that before. He noticed her almost immediately and his eyes lit up when he saw emerge from the elevator. He walked right up to her, pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on her cheek, much like he had when he left her earlier that afternoon. Kate reached out to take the flowers from him and smiled.

"Thank you, they're beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." Kate grinned again and then turned back toward the elevator. Rick stood there awkwardly, not really knowing if she wanted him to follow her or just wait for her. Kate glanced back over her shoulder and gave him a questionning look.

"I figure I should put these in some water. Do you want to come up?" Rick's eyes lit up like a puppy dog about to go for a walk and he scampered over to her side. They rode the elevator up to the eighth floor in silence. When the doors opened, Rick reached out and put his hand at the small of Kate's back, an intimate gesture that sent chills through her body, a sensation that was becoming quite common around him. She wondered if he could feel it too (he could).

Kate unlocked her apartment door and stepped into the tiny kitchen, Rick following close behind. She grabbed a vase out of the cupboard and carefully placed the daisies inside. She looked around the sparse kitchen and decided that she wanted to enjoy the flowers privately, and not share them with Morgan.

"I'm just going to put these in my room." Kate reached for her keys.

"You lock your bedroom door?"

"I think of this place as two studio apartments with a shared kitchen. We don't really hang out together much. Or at all really." Kate gestured toward Morgan's bedroom door. Kate wasn't even sure if Morgan was home right now. She didn't really care. "You're welcome to take a look, but it's dreadfully small."

Rick followed Kate into her room and wow, she was right, this place really was dreadfully small. There was barely enough room for one person to walk in between her bed and her desk. Kate placed the vase of gerber daisies on her desk and turned around only to slam right into Richard Castle's chest. He caught her around the waist with his left arm and pulled her close. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Kate closed her eyes, anticipating what would come next. She could feel the warmth from his face radiating onto her cheeks. But what happened next was not what she was expecting.

"Why Katherine Beckett, you've been keeping secrets." Kate opened her eyes to find Rick reaching past her to the bookshelves next to her desk. She mentally smacked herself as she brought one hand up to her forehead, as if she could make the books disappear from view. Clearly she had not been thinking when she invited Richard Castle into her bedroom. And then she had a mild panic attack with the realization that _Richard Castle was standing in her bedroom!_ Every book he had ever written, including the obscure ones that most people didn't know about, were lined up neatly at eye level on the narrow bookshelf in her tiny room.

"These aren't new," he said as he picked up a well worn copy of _In a Hail of Bullets_, "which means you, my dear Kate, are a fan."

Kate realized there was no backing out of this one. It was a very strange situation. She had met this man under unusual circumstances having no idea that he was her favorite author. She was already in love with his words. It was just a really strange set of coincidences that led her, literally, right into his arms. The rational part of her mind told her that she must have subconsciously recognized him from her books and that's why she was so taken with him from the beginning. That's why she kissed a stranger on the streets of Manhattan. And then there was a less rational thought that she couldn't ignore.

_There is no such thing as a coincidence._

It was something memorable that she had heard before from a psychic who did a guest spot on _The View._ According to her, everything happens for a reason. Kate could never accept this because she couldn't imagine any reason for her mother's didn't really believe in psychics, or fate, or anything like that, but she was starting to believe that perhaps she was destined to meet this man. This wonderfully handsome man who was standing in her room with a beautiful smile across his beautiful face, patiently waiting for her response.

"Most of those belonged to my mother. She was a big fan." Kate smiled at the memory.

"You'll have to take me to meet her sometime." Kate's smile quickly faded and Rick misread her reaction. "Which is not to imply that I should be meeting your mother anytime soon I mean we aren't dating, well I hope we are dating but I don't mean to push you too fast so I'm sorry if you thought I was assuming things. I mean I know we just met and I really need to stop rambling. I'm sorry." Rick looked down, unsure of himself, and Kate felt badly for him.

"No, no, it's not that at all, really you have nothing to apologize for." Rick went over the conversation in his head and he put two and two together. She _was_ a big fan.

"Oh, your mom must have, oh I'm so sorry Kate, I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot."

"No, you're not an idiot, and I'm sorry. This isn't usually something that I bring up on a first date."

"Well then let's save it for the third date." Rick reached his hand out and gently cradle Kate's head while he wiped away the tear that had unwillingly slipped out of the corner of her eye and was sliding down her cheek. "There will be no tears on our first date unless they are tears of joy." They both looked down at Kate's bed and Kate let out a nervous laugh. "Not that kind of joy!" Rick made a big show of acting offended. "I'm not that easy."

"We'll see about that." Kate said seductively. Rick's eyes opened wide and he swallowed audibly, but Kate was already halfway out the door. "You coming, Rick?"

* * *

The restaurant Rick had chosen was barely a block away. Il Mulino was one of Manhattan's best kept secret. It was tucked behind a non-descript store front and the narrow windows were covered by simple white curtains. The maitre d walked right up to Rick, shook his hand with enthusiasm and pulled him in for a hug.

"Thanks for the last minute reservation, Tony."

"Anything for you, Richard. We haven't seen you in awhile. Who is this beautiful young lady?" Kate blushed and reached out her hand, but Tony ignored the gesture and pulled her in for a hug while Rick introduced her.

They were seated immediately and as soon as they were settled the waiter brought them a scrumptious looking white bean bruschetta appetizer. Kate noticed that there weren't any menus on the table and Rick seemed to read her mind. "I never ask for a menu here. They always surprise me and everything here is just fantastic. But if you're not OK with that we can ask for a menu."

"Oh no, that's fine. I trust you." And she did trust him, which was weird because Kate Beckett did not trust many people, especially people that she just met. But everything about Rick, since the moment they met, was _different_. This restaurant, this evening, this man, was perfect and she just knew that the meal would be perfect as well.

Kate knew that under normal circumstances one would have to make a reservation months in advance to be able to eat at this restaurant. She had also heard that the owner had ties to the mob and often people with reservation had to wait as long as an hour to be seated if someone else walked in who was 'connected'. She turned to look at some of the people waiting by the bar and wondered who was going to have to wait now that they snuck in and presumably took someone else's table.

"Do you eat here a lot?" Kate asked between bites of the incredibly tasty bruschetta.

"Only a few times, actually, but I know Tony and his brother. His brother owns the restaurant and I met them both while doing research for one of my books."

"Research? Like about the mob?"

"Shhhh! Not so loud. I'm very thorough with my research and I usually don't have any trouble getting information because for some reason people find me trustworthy. I try to make my books as realistic as possible."

"Are you? Trustworthy?" Kate asked between bites of her sinfully delicious seafood risotto. "You were right about not needing a menu, I'll give you that. This food is unbelievable."

"You can trust me with _anything_." Rick smiled at Kate in a way that touched something deep within her and she knew that she could trust this man with her life. Not just her life, she realized, but with her heart as well. "So, Katherine, tell me about yourself."

"Not much to tell, really. I grew up in Manhattan, went to Stanford for undergrad, and now I'm at NYU law school, but then you already know that. How did you figure that out anyway?" Kate remembered that she still didn't know how he had found her.

"I saw you at my book signing."

"What? I didn't go to your book signing. I mean I almost went, but the line was too long. And that was before I knew that you were you." Rick looked at her with questioning eyes. "I mean I hadn't made the connection that you were my 9/11 mystery man until later. You looked familiar that day, but I had never really paid much attention to the picture on the back of your books. But wait, how did you see me if I never even made it inside the book store?"

"I saw you at the window. I wanted to run after you but Paula, my publicist, wouldn't let me run off. However, I did notice the NYU logo on your bag. I figured you were in graduate school so I started going through picture books. I had discovered yours right before I ran into you."

"You have admirable detective skills, Mr. Castle." Kate gave Rick a dazzling smile that made him want to grab her and kiss her right there in the restaurant.

"So, a lawyer. What made you choose law school?"

"It just seemed like the right thing to do. My parents are lawyers." She paused and rethought that statement. "Or were lawyers, I guess. I mean my dad still is one. My mom…" Kate wasn't sure that she wanted to share this depressing detail of her life yet. She already almost told him back at her apartment before dinner. It seemed as if she wasn't going to get through the evening without telling him.

_You can trust me_.

"My mom died a few years ago," Kate said looking down at the napkin in her lap. She raised her head to meet Rick's eyes and she saw nothing but compassion as he reached out to take her hand. She let him. "She was murdered, actually. Random gang violence. They never caught the person who did it."

"Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry." He squeezed her hand. "I don't want to pressure you to talk about it, but just know I'm ready to listen if you ever need a shoulder to cry on."

"Thanks. I don't know why I just told you all that. Like I said before, it's not usually something I share on a first date." Rick was still holding her hand and it felt so natural. She wasn't a touchy feely kind of person but she found herself enjoying his affection and craving more physical contact. "Your turn, Mr. Castle. I want to hear all about you."

* * *

**AN: The restaurant is real, I've eaten there a few times when my parents came to visit me. Once we had to wait an hour for our reservation because some of the rumored "mob" people showed up and got tables at the last minute. The psychic is also real, she's a good friend of mine and her belief that there's so such thing as a coincidence has always struck a chord with me.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Your turn, Mr. Castle. I want to hear all about you."

"Well you know what I do for a living, and that I have a daughter. Her mother and I divorced when Alexis was three. My ex-wife, Meredith, moved to LA to persue her acting career and I've been a single dad ever since. I was born and raised in Manhattan. Have you lived here all your life?" Kate noticed his subtle attempt to switch the topic of conversation back to her but she wasn't about to let him get away with it.

"Yes, born and raised just like you. And your parents? Where are they now?"

"My mother is a Broadway actress, Martha Rodgers, and my father…" Rick let go of Kate's hand and stared picking at one of his discarded shrimp tails. Kate already knew who Rick's mother was. Martha Rodgers was quite well known and that bit of information was readily available in almost all of the bios she found online. She did find it odd, however, that none of the bios mentioned his father. From the way he was acting right now, Kate realized it was a touchy subject. She wanted him to feel comfortable sharing with her in the same way he made her comfortable sharing her mother's story with him. Kate reached across the table and covered the hand that was playing with the shrimp tail.

"This trust thing?" Kate searched his face with her eyes until he looked up to meet her gaze. "It goes both ways." She rubbed her thumb over his hand. "You can trust me." Rick lifted their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her hand ever so softly.

"You're right, and I do. Trust you, that is." He gave her a reassuring smile before he continued.

"So, my dad… I've never met him and he's never been a part of my life. My mom raised me as a single parent. At this point he could be dead and I'd never know." His eyes searched Kate's and all he found was compassion as she gently squeezed his hand before letting go so that they could both resume their meals.

"That must have been tough, growing up without a father."

"Not really. I mean, I don't know any differently. I guess so? My mother is really great, you'll have to meet her sometime." Kate nearly dropped the wine glass in her hand.

"Meet your mother?" Rick caught the look on her face, like the proverbial deer caught in headlights, and started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You should see the look on your face! My mother isn't that scary, I promise. I think you'd get along great. She'd love you." Kate relaxed a bit, but she still looked terrified.

"If you're already thinking about me meeting your mother then…" She didn't know how to finish the sentence so she just started pointing at him then pointing back at herself and repeating that motion until it finally clicked in Rick's head what she was worried about.

"Ohhhhh, yes, I see. Now that I've found you, Kate, I don't really plan on letting you go. We've already started something that I think has the potential to be really great. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I felt a connection with you the first time I saw you walking down Church Street on September eleventh. It was like we were meant to find each other that day. I know that a horrible thing happened and a lot of people lost their lives, but something wonderful happened on that day as well. The universe brought us together."

"Wow, I… I don't really know what to say to that." Kate felt the exact same way, but she wasn't able to express her feelings the way that Rick obviously could. She was amazed that he could just come out and say exactly what he had been thinking. Even more amazed that they seemed to be on the same page. All this time she had been dreaming about him and reliving that first kiss and it was clear that he had been thinking about her just as much, if not more.

"Did you feel it too? I mean you must have, you were looking for me, right?" Kate saw fear and trepidation in his eyes and realized that he wasn't as confident as he sounded just a few seconds ago. He was being so honest with her and it was time for her to return some of that heart felt honesty. She wanted to kiss that doubt right off his face, but they were still eating dinner so that would have to wait until later.

"Yes, of course, I was desperate to find you actually. Well, until I figured out who you were and then I still wanted to find you but I was nervous. I mean, you're kind of a celebrity." Kate looked down to her lap where her hands were nervously fidgeting with her napkin. A deep red blush began to creep up her face and that gave Rick the confidence booster that he was looking for.

"I'd like to think I'm more than 'kind of' a celebrity, Miss Beckett. Does that bother you at all? My celebrity status? Dating me comes with a certain risk. Since I'm only 'kind of' a celebrity I only 'kind of' get stalked by the occasional paparazzo. Although, I imagine a picture of me with my new girlfriend would sell hundreds of thousands of papers. Especially when she's as beautiful as you are."

Kate blushed at the compliment, but she had a hard time digesting what Rick had just said. Girlfriend? Mystery writer said what? He was moving way too fast… or was he? And she was not ready for this at all… or was she? There was, however, something nagging at her that she had to get out before they jumped into this relationship.

"Rick, I have to ask. I know you can't believe everything you read, but…"

"You've been reading about me?" He teased her.

"Yes, as I already told you." Kate stuck her tongue out at Rick in a manner that was meant to be cheeky, but it stirred something deep within him and all he could think about was how sexy she looked. Kate noticed his eyes turn to a deeper shade of blue as his gaze dropped to her lips and realized she needed to be careful about the signals she was sending. After all, they were still out in public. "As I was saying, I was reading about your, uh, very active social life."

"Lies, all lies." He waved his hand as if to dismiss the thought from her head.

"But the pictures?"

"OK not total lies, but lies in the sense that I wasn't dating those women. Well, not all of them anyhow. Publicity mostly. My agent, Paula, the same one that wouldn't let me run after you at the book signing? Well, she always says that any publicity is good publicity so she built this sort of playboy persona that they write about in the papers. My real dating life is much tamer. I haven't dated much at all since my divorce. There hasn't been anyone serious." Rick paused and tried to read the expression on Kate's face to see if she believed him. He really wanted her to believe him because it was the truth.

"No one serious? There was one blonde woman that kept reappearing in pictures with you."

"No one serious until now." Kate's heart skipped a beat. This was all moving way too fast. "That blonde woman is my publisher, Gina. She goes with me to social events whenever I don't have anyone else to go with. We're just friends. And you? You aren't seeing anyone, are you?" And there was that spark of doubt again.

"No, there hasn't been anyone since before my mom died. I kind of threw myself into my schoolwork. I was horribly depressed and not much fun to be around."

"Well, aren't we a depressing pair! We're perfect for each other." They both laughed and Rick raised his glass. "To happier times, to the future, to us!" Kate lifted her wine glass to join his.

"I'll drink to that!" And they did.

With the heavy conversation behind them, they finished their meal talking about less emotional subjects. After a sinfully delicious tiramisu they were ready to leave restaurant. Kate never saw Rick pay the bill, which of course he had taken care of ahead of time. There seemed to be no question that he was going to walk her home.

Even though it was a Thursday night and not yet the weekend, the Village was booming with night life. There was no quiet place for them to stroll leisurely and have more intimate conversations. Besides, it was cold outside and not exactly the kind of weather you wanted to be walking around in if you didn't absolutely have to. At the same time, Kate lived only one block away from the restaurant and neither one of them wanted the evening to be over. Kate was mentally cursing the size of her tiny apartment and wishing she had some sort of living room so they could snuggle on a sofa and watch a movie. Oh well, she thought, they would have to improvise.

"Would you like to come up? I have a TV in my room, we could watch a movie. I mean I don't exactly have a living room or a couch, but there's a bed…"

"Your bed? You mean you expect me to hang out with you – _in your bed _– and – _watch a movie_? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Kate laughed so hard she snorted when she realized how that sounded.

"You have any better ideas? I'm not really ready for our date to be over." What was it about this man that made her speak everything that was on her mind? She was not usually the type to be this honest.

"Me neither, so let's go." They rode the elevator with a male classmate of Kate's who obviously knew her because he said hello and made small talk on the ride up. Rick moved closer to Kate and wrapped his arm possessively around her waist. By the time they reached the eighth floor Rick had already introduced himself to the other man as "Kate's boyfriend" which secretly made Kate happy, although it earned him an elbow in the ribs as they exited the elevator.

"What was that?"

"He was flirting with you, I had to make it clear that you weren't available." Kate started laughing uncontrollably, clutching her side as she tried to open her door with her shaky hand.

"I highly doubt that. If anything, he'd be flirting with YOU, if you catch my drift." She waited for the realization to set in.

"Oh, OK then. Well I'm not sorry and I'm not going to stop so you better get used to it." Rick had Kate backed up against the front door to her shared apartment. She hadn't been able to open the door yet. She reached her hands up and put them on Rick's chest as if she was going to push him away, but what she really wanted to do was pull him closer. Her hands grabbed the collar of his coat and she made her intentions clear with a gentle tug. She was still laughing when he leaned just a little bit closer and stopped her laugh with the touch of his lips. This kiss was every bit as memorable as their first kiss back in September. Slow, gentle and completely electric. There was no denying that they had unbelievable chemistry. As the kiss deepened, Kate pulled back.

"Inside." She was out of breath and unable to look him in the eyes. It was all that Kate could manage to get out as she fumbled for her keys. Rick took them from her and opened the door. Once inside he remembered that her bedroom door was also locked and he opened that one as well.

"Suddenly I'm glad that you lock your bedroom door," Rick said as he shut the door behind them. They were alone. In Kate's bedroom. And there was really no other place for them to go other than Kate's bed. At that moment, that's all either of them really wanted anyway. Kate took off her heavy wool coat and hung it up in her closet. She took Rick's coat and hung it up as well. They both took off their shoes and then Rick slowly backed Kate into her own bed.

"So, about that movie." Kate said as Rick leaned his head down and began kissing Kate's neck.

"What movie?" He whispered into her ear as he kissed his way up her neck and across her jaw.

"Exactly." Kate turned her head so that their lips were joined once more. Gone was the slow and gentle kiss from before. This one was hard and passionate and full of undeniable heat. Kate fell back on the bed taking Rick with her. Suddenly she was very happy that she didn't have a living room or a stupid couch. Very happy indeed.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the long break between updates! It's not intentional. I've got 3 kids and not a lot of free time, but I'm having fun writing this story. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to update through your reviews and your private messages! **


End file.
